A LOOK AT SEASON SIXTY-SEVEN Colonial Players’ 2015-16 season will take our patrons on a journey from England to New York to Boston and from the late Victorian era to 21st-century America, using comedy, drama, and THE music to relate spellbinding tales of love, laughter, and, yes, even murder. Subscriptions for either five or seven shows will be on sale soon. We hope you will join us on our journey. ★ SEPTEMBER 4-26 The season opens with Sherlock’s Last Case, a ruefully comic send-up of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about his famed English detective. This modern version is unlike anything you’ve seen about Holmes, with a jaw-dropping twist so unexpected we will ask our patrons not to reveal the secret to those who have yet to see the play. ★ OCTOBER 16-31 Side Man is a memory play told by a narrator who relates the story of his parents' relationship over four decades from the 1950s to the 1980s. It focuses on the lives of side men - musicians who made their living playing gigs with headliners on tours and in recording sessions - at a time when rock and roll was edging out jazz and big band music. Side Man won a Tony Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Side Man contains strong language and mature themes. ★ NOVEMBER 20-DECEMBER 13 Morning's at Seven is a charming comedy set in the early 20th century and is the second in our series of classic American plays. Originally produced in 1938, it is a story of family relationships among four sisters, three husbands, and one son and his fiancée of 12 years. These are devoted and warm relationships complicated by unspoken longings, fears, and suspicions. The play has been revived twice on Broadway and won the 1980 Tony Award for best revival. ★ JANUARY 8-23 Venus in Fur is a sexy and cerebral comedy about the encounter between a New York writer holding auditions for his new play and a vulgar, disorganized actress late for her appointment. The play is based on an 1870 novel about sex and domination, and the audition becomes a game where power shifts repeatedly between the male and female characters. Venus in Fur was a Tony Award nominee for best play in 2010. The sexual themes and strong language in Venus in Fur are appropriate for mature audiences. ★ FEBRUARY 19-MARCH 12 Boeing Boeing, winner of the 2008 Tony Award for best revival, is a translation of a delightful French farce about an American who juggles his affairs with three fiancées. The play is set in 1960 before the movement to secure equal rights for women dramatically changed relationships between men and women. Complications arise when the three beautiful stewardesses, each unaware of the others, arrive at Bernard’s apartment at the same time. ★ APRIL 8-MAY 8 The Secret Garden is an enchanting and haunting musical set in 1906 about an orphaned girl who comes from India to England to live in the unhappy household of her uncle. Slowly, she begins to put her troubles behind her and helps create a loving and caring family from the estranged occupants of her uncle’s house. With its extraordinarily beautiful music, this version of a classic children’s book won three Tony Awards in 1991 and was nominated for three others. ★ JUNE 3-25 Good People is a gritty drama told with warmth and humor about working class people who live in South Boston. It is filled with characters who, while struggling to make ends meet, nevertheless resonate with integrity, tenderness, and humor. Good People was a Tony Award nominee for best play in 2011. - 12 - June 5 – June 20, 2015 2014/2015 season THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE PRODUCTION STAFF COLONIAL Colonial Players wraps up our 66th season with Director...........................................................................................................Kristofer Kauff Why Torture is Wrong and The People Who Assistant Director...........................................................................................Beth Terranova PLAYERS, Love Them. Sure, the title alone told you you INC. are not in for standard fare with this offering! Producer........................................................................................................Wes Bedsworth Many of you know this is an “Arc” show. Some Stage Manager..................................................................................................Ernie Morton of you even know what that means. 108 East Street • Annapolis, MD 21401 Assistant Stage Manager......................................................................................Emily Parry Telephone: 410-268-7373 Nine years ago, The Colonial Players’ Artistic Set and Floor Designer........................................................................................Terry Averill thecolonialplayers.org Team formulated a bold new strategy for Lead Carpenter...................................................................................................Dick Whaley selecting our plays. It honors our past by Carpenters....................................Norm James, Jim Robinson, Grant Thorpe, Ted Yablonski BOARD OF DIRECTORS continuing our tradition of selecting five plays that find general favor with a large Set and Floor Painting............................................William Akers, Terry Averill, Dirk Geratz, Corporate Officers: audience and includes American standards, Emily Parry, Beth Terranova President ...............................................Darice Clewell contemporary comedies and dramas, and Vice President .............................................. Herb Elkin Set Decoration.............................................................................Terry Averill, Lois Banscher occasional mysteries, musicals, and classics. Secretary ................................................Theresa Riffle Riffing on our identity as Annapolis’ only Sound Designer...............................................................................................Kaelynn Miller Treasurer ...............................................Kaelynn Miller “theater-in-the-round,” we refer to those Lighting Designer...........................................................................................Wes Bedsworth Directors: five shows as our “Circle” offerings-those of Lighting Assistants.........................................Terry Averill, Frank Florentine, Richard Koster, Artistic ......................................................Mickey Lund interest to the full spectrum of our patrons. Kaelynn Miller, Ernie Morton, Hannah Sturm, Beth Terranova Education & Special Projects ...................Scott Nichols Human Resources ................................... Shirley Panek In our 60th year, we implemented that Lighting / Sound Board Operators.............................................Alley Martin, Lyana Morton Marketing .............................................Timothy Sayles strategy with a new category of plays that Costume Designer...............................................................................................Sarah Wade serve an additional purpose. To be sure, they Operations ...........................................Wes Bedsworth Costume Assistants...................................................................Jean Berard, Beth Terranova Production ............................................Jennifer Dustin entertain. They also provoke self-reflection and discussion among audience members. Properties Designer..........................................................................................Lois Banscher We know their intensity appeals to a smaller Properties Assistants.....................................JoAnn Gidos, Mike Gidos, Charlotte Robinson CP SPECIAL EVENTS audience segment, so these plays run for only Play Consultant................................................................................................Jim Gallagher Season Sneak Peek three weeks. Since a small segment of a circle Summer One Act Festival is an arc, we dubbed these plays “Arc” shows. Intern.......................................................................................................................John Bell Promising Playwright Contest Program Design.........................................................................................Harlequin Designs Post Show Talk Back A patron recently challenged me on the Scholarship Award wisdom of offering plays for a smaller audience Program Cover / Poster Design.........................................................Drama Queen Graphics Season Celebration segment. She considered it absurd that we put Photography..................................................................................................Colburn Images Beth Whaley Series on plays that are unfamiliar, that we know may Program Editor...................................................................................................Tom Stuckey not fill the seats! Well, for starters, because For information on these events, contact: we can. Sure, we love packed houses, and Program Assistant...............................................................................................Nancy Long [email protected] we have a fiscal responsibility to keep the books balanced. But we also have an artistic responsibility to balance the old with the new, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the outré with the usual, the edgy with the FRONT OF HOUSE Frank Florentine for lending lighting fixtures Box Office ...................................... Lynda Cunningham expected. This is theater that is different from Subscriptions ................................